This is a part of podcast series from the Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center discussing emotional challenges after a traumatic burn injury (TBI). In this segment, Shelbi Williams discusses recognizing and sharing emotions after TBI. 

After I was out of the hospital and everything, and I was trying to get myself reacclimated to reality, problems came about like, I couldn't read people as well as I could before. I didn't know when they were upset or I would be upset, but I didn't show it outwardly or I would be smiling. But really inside I didn't feel that way. I struggled a lot with kind of explaining my emotions and even understanding them. And so with couples care, it helped us a lot, like helped me understand my emotions and process them. And also, I felt like I was always telling him like, I can't help it. It's because of my accident and for so long I thought that not only him but the people around me, every time I said that, I felt like it was almost like a cop out. Like I was just saying that it was just an excuse. But I had really felt that it was like that I wasn't trying to make up an excuse or, um, get an easy way out of things. But I was struggling internally with my emotions and processing them. And so when I told, when I said those things, this couple's care, just like I felt like, solidified. Like it is her brain injury. It is because of what has happened chemically to her brain and, everything like that. And so it was like, not only am I telling you like it's because of my accident, but here are these medical professionals telling you and teaching you, okay, like this is what she's going through. and it's not just an excuse.

Visit https://msktc.org/tbi and get the answers you need from experts who conduct innovative and high-quality research, provide patient care, and work to improve the health and overall quality of life for people with traumatic brain injury. That’s https://msktc.org/tbi.